Homing Missiles

The Homing Missiles are a secondary weapon usable in the Raiden Series. They are a pair of 2 to 4, arrow-shaped missiles that target nearby enemies in order to destroy them. Along with the Nuclear Missiles, it is one of the secondary weapons that have been present in the series since the original Raidenup to Raiden IV. They are indicated by a green "H" power-up.

The homing missiles can be obtained by collecting a green "H" beacon that is released by a various crate or a Fairy. When first obtained, they will fire as two small, standard missiles that track down nearby enemies in an attempt to destroy them. While they are initially slow movement, upon upgrading Homing Missile them, they will eventually double firepower as well as take a more arrow-like shape. They will also begin to track down and destroy enemies faster. The homing missiles are a good choice for eliminating large menageries of smaller enemies, but should only be used sparingly when taking on bosses.

The homing missiles are a great choice for eliminating smaller enemies packed into large groups, as they will destroy or nearly destroy them upon making contact. While their fire rate and speed are initially slow, they eventually become much faster as the weapon is continually upgraded, eventually surpassing the nuclear missiles in overall speed. Since the missiles home onto enemies, the accuracy is while expected, still very outstanding.

The main setback to the homing missiles is their damage output. Even when fully upgraded, the missiles deal only minimal damage to larger enemies and bosses. In some games however, this setback can be countered by the high fire rate of the missiles. Another good way to counter the low damage output is to combine it with weapons that yield much higher damage outputs, such as the Ion Laser.